Budapest ANALYSIS Misplaced priorities and Missing Consistency Health Policy in Hungary and its Consequences on Health and Health Funding GYULA GILLY March 2018  Social and economic inequalities are deepening, which increases avoidable inequali­ties in health.  The underfunded health care system is decreasingly able to fulfill its role. Underfun­ding, inadequate funding, mass emigration of doctors and nurses make the problem more serious.  The time in office of ministers of health has been on average 2-2.5 years, since 1990. Frequently changing health ministers means too frequent major changes in health policy, and, as a consequence, Hungary in fact has not had a consistent, politically feasible and sustainable health policy throughout the last 27 years. This practical fact has been paired with the lack of adequate funding of the system – therefore the pre­sent status of the health care system and the unacceptably bad health status of the population are not surprising at all.  No real changes can be expected until the political priorities will not change, and the long-lasting underfunding crisis will not be solved in line with a professionally sound, consistent, long-term and politically, administratively feasible and sustainable, com­prehensive health policy.